How He Found Her
by invisible-nobody15
Summary: A short One-Shot that takes place during Phantom Hourglass. Link's thoughts on how he finds Tetra. Slight spoilers if you haven't made it there in the game.
" _She didn't find it...it found her."_

But why? Why did it have to find her? Why couldn't it have found someone else? The Ocean King had told him that it found her because she had a _"bold, vibrant soul"_. But surely other people had strong life forces as well? Was it because she's a princess? Was it attracted to her Triforce of Wisdom that she wore around her neck to this day? He had so many unanswered questions, and he knew he wasn't going to be getting answers to any of them. But that wasn't the most frustrating part.

The part that scared him the most was _seeing_ her. It was terrible. He fought those awful volley sisters (which scared him to death) and got the key that led him to her. After the temples he went through, he was so looking forward to getting her, finding her crew, and sailing far away from this place and its inhabitants. However, that wasn't to be the case. She was there, but she may as well not have been. It was her body – it looked like her – but _Tetra_ was nowhere to be found.

He had found a shell.

He felt tears tug at his eyes again as he walked. She had seemed so empty; seemed so close to death. It was scary, seeing someone in that state. And the thought of Tetra dying was even more scary. He needed to recover her life force – as well as the Ocean King's – before Bellum fully got rid of them both. He hadn't known what to do after the Ocean King had explained what was going on. All he could do was turn and face her. Almost without realizing he was doing it, he reached to grab her hand. It was so cold – her hand being stone as well. His eyes teared up, his hand shaking. Her rough, calloused hand was smooth as stone and cold as ice. He was certain that his emotions had shown right through the façade he had tried to put up.

She was a year older than him. While only twelve, that was a whole year more than he had. She was smarter than him – wiser, if you will (pun intended). He's had new friends to help him get as far as he has, but losing her…it was terrible. As stupid as it was, he missed her attitude and her snappy remarks. He missed how she was always there to get him out of trouble when he rushed into things without thinking (memories of the Helmaroc King filled his head). He had put everything he had into saving her. And there she was, not even herself.

His stupor was interrupted by Linebeck's outburst. He yelled at the Ocean King about how there wasn't actually any treasure on the goddesses forsaken ship. The _treasure_ _was what he was worried about_. He was ashamed to admit it, but Link wanted to punch the jerk in the face. The captain may not have known Tetra, or even cared about finding her, but the least he could have done was respect the fact that the boy was upset about all of this. Instead, he chose to yell once again about the treasure.

Then, he had the gall to say that he wouldn't let them use his ship anymore. Link nearly lost his cool. Stone Tetra stood behind him and he was ready to tackle Linebeck to the ground. He wasn't one to get violent so quickly, but his nearly-pubescent emotions were running on full speed. Thank goddesses the Ocean King took care of the situation. They still needed the captain's ship because their quest wasn't over yet. Not nearly. They still had Bellum to take care of before they could do anything about Tetra.

"Link?"

Link looked up, trying to blink the memories out of his head. It didn't work, but he did manage to get rid of the tears that had been in his eyes. "Yeah, C?"

"Are you okay? You seemed kind of distracted." She commented.

He agreed with her. He felt distracted. Tetra sat below the deck of Linebeck's ship and Link couldn't stop thinking about the princess. She was his friend, whether she would admit it out loud or not. She was the captain of the best gang of pirates he had ever met ( _yes_ , he thought, _that was directed at you, Jolene_ ). And because of that stupid Ghost Ship (which, he might add, is much worse than the one he grabbed the Triforce Chart from back on the Great Sea) she was reduced to a helpless… _statue_. Whenever he saw her below deck – when he wasn't manning the cannon – she looked more like a decoration than she did his best friend.

The Hero of Winds sighed. "Sorry Ciela. I guess I am a bit out of it today."

"You have to focus, Link. We have to find those Pure Metals!" She reminded him.

Link nodded. "I know, I know. Trust me, I will." He stated, leaving out the _'for her'_ end of the sentence. He climbed onto the S.S. Linebeck and set sail for Mercay. "Temple of the Ocean King, here we come…again." He glanced down at the door that led below deck. He sighed, getting the cannon ready just in case.

After this was over, Link promised himself that he'd tell Tetra about his crush on her.

And he'd never let anything like this happen to her again.

Never.


End file.
